Courtesy photo
Lis Bailey of Strafford is competing in the North American and World sled dog championships in Alaska.

DOVER — With the Iditarod, the world’s most watched long distance sled dog challenge, recently completed in Alaska, dog mushing is front and center. But, while sled dog racing is most often associated with the 1,000-plus mile Iditarod, the North American and World sled dog championships happen around the same time and in the same snowy part of the world; if the Iditarod is a marathon, the North American and World sled dog championships are sprints. And one local woman has helped prepare a competitive team for these top level competitions.

Lis Bailey of Strafford is raising money for the traveling expenses of her K-Teris dog sled team, one of the world’s fastest, to Alaska for the North American and World sled dog championships.

If you didn’t realize a world-class sled dog team called the Seacoast home, you’d be forgiven. While the sled dog scene in New England is a quiet community compared with those in Alaska and Scandinavia, Bailey’s passion for dogs and racing, which began when she convinced her parents to let her get her first dog sled pup at age 10, has turned into a family affair that has stood up to teams around the world and now breeds top-shelf racing dogs. Since showing an early talent for the sport at 11, when she went undefeated in local races in the three-dog category, Lis’ homeschooling schedule and self-imposed discipline afforded her the chance to train “like a full time job.” She went on six-mile training runs in the summer, having the dogs gain strength in the fall by hauling an ATV around local trails, and then transferring to light, nimble carbon fiber sleds for the winter race season.

But after 15 years training dogs, Lis’ focus has had to shift to motherhood after giving birth to her first child last year. So her younger sister, Grace, who started racing dogs in 100-yard sprint races at the tender age of 5, has taken the K-Teris Kennel team to Alaska herself as a captain of Team USA, starting with a cross-country drive to the Rockies to get some warm-up races in.

They’re currently looking for $3,000 in donations to cover part of the $7,000 overall budget for the trip, and have started an online campaign on www.fundrazr.com to do so.

Bailey says that her dogsledding work lines up nicely with her work as a designer with a company (Visions Kitchens) that puts the environment first.

“Working with a company that believes in keeping its footprint low totally meshes with the natural aspects of dogsledding — after all we are generating incredible motion and speed with the natural energy of these amazing animals and in both jobs there is a specific focus on efficiency,” she said